by Jason Hasert

Contributed to by Dan Adamson

           "Keeping Current with 64th"  will spend the next three issues looking at the history of 1/64 tractors  wheels and tires.   Part I will look at tractors from 1973-1986, Part II will look at 1986-2003 and Part III will look a 4wds.  These articles will help show just how far 1/64 tractor tire options and detail have come.  In the early days the 1/64 tire was a mere disc and today they are nicely detailed large lug wheels offering front duals and rear triples in some cases.  This series will only look at the different eras of tire advancement.  There are many variations that would be difficult to catalog in just three articles.  Dan Adamson will no doubt fill us in on many of those variations in his 1/64 articles.

        1973 marked the beginning of Ertl's individual blister card tractors. 1/64 started in 1968 with the 7 piece John Deere historical set marking significant John Deere tractors from the 1892 Froelich to the 1960 "4010".   The set grew to 8 1/64 tractors  in 1972 with the addition of the "Sound-Gard" tractor.  In 1973 Ertl released the John Deere Sound-Gard "4430" and new Massey-Ferguson 1155 tractors on blister cards.  These tractors were joined in 1974 by an International Harvester 1466 tractor.   The MF and John Deere were a little more crude than the IH.  All three tractors had the same disc like wheels with bolt details and plastic wheels.  They also all had hook hitches.  The MF and IH had mufflers. The IH was the only model to offer a seat inside the cab.   

           The early three 1/64 tractors were basic representations of there real counter parts in the field.  For a child they were a great new toy and offered hours of fun.  The wheels on these models at first were penned on and then latter attached with rivets.

         In 1978 Ertl upgraded and expanded the 1/64 line.  Allis-Chalmers, Case and Ford joined new  castings from IH and John Deere.   Ertl featured plastic resin prototypes of 1/64 toys in its catalogs during this period.   You will notice these prototypes show some extra detail not found on the final production units.  All of the tires and wheels on the new toy tractors were improved in 1978.  The most interesting item is the new 86 series tractor in this catalog picture.  It is pictured as having duals.  It looks Ertl planned to release a 1/64 1586 with duals at the time.  This model ended up being a 1086 with singles. It would be another 7 years before Ertl offered tire variations like duals in 1/64.  

The 1/64 tractors of the late 70's all were basic 2wd row crop tractors ranging from the 130 hp IH 1086 to the 180 hp Case 2590.  All of these tractors had the same tires which were riveted on and were a much larger and heavier in there styling than the 1973 tires. 

        The John Deere, Case, Allis-Chalmers and Ford wheels were also similar.  Each were a three hole inserted disc (lugs) that were riveted onto the toy.  These  wheels were the standard 1/64 wheels used on many 1/64 tractors through the 1990's. 

         The one stand out wheel during this time period was the IH 1086.  This 1/64 toy had spindle type wheels just like the real IH tractors and the 1/16 Ertl models.  Above we see a 1086 in comparison to the wheels found on a 1/16 IH 1586.  The IH wheel was not only used on the 1086.  It can be found on the white cab 3588 2+2 and the red cab 6388 2+2.  

           1986 marked the first major change in 1/64 tractors since 1973.  After years of collectors asking for tire options, Ertl release 2wd tractors with duals and front wheel assist tractors in singles.  The row crop 2wd models also continued. 

         Front wheel assist 1/64 tractors were released in September 1986.  This was a major step forward for 1/64.  During the early 80's high hp tractors with fwa became fairly common.  Ertl followed suite by developing a fwa tire.  By today's standards the first fwa tire looks small but at the time it made all the difference to rug farmers and displayers. 

            Duals also made there debut in September 1986.  For a number of years customizers had been adding duals by cannibalizing other 1/64 tires.  Of course 1/64 tractors in many places were 0.99 cents to a $1.20 at the time.  Dual wheeled tractors were a big step up and looked nice hooked on to new implements like the John Deere 12 row corn planter and Case International air drill.

       The standard 2wd row crop tractor still remained the Ertl mainstay model through the late 1980's.  The new fwa and dual wheel models were only available at OEM tractor dealers.  K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Ames,  Kaybe Toys, Toys-R-Us and and other general retailers continued to only stock the standard 2wd toys.

       Collectors have wondered  if Ertl changed the 2wd tire in 1986 to the 1/64 implement tire. Ertl never had a tire specifically for implements.  The implement tires and the 2WD front tires have always been the same.  It would be to difficult for Ertl to keep track of one tire for implements and another special tire for tractors. There may be slight tires variations due to each country of origin having their own tire mold.  The main change came in the mid 90's?  The tires appear to be more shiny than the old tires.  The ribs are noticeably different on the side walls.  The height and width of the tire didn't change, but the rim did.  The rim got deeper and thicker to give the illusion of a wider tire.  Also the old tires had lugs and the new tires do not. 

        Next month the tire series will continue on into the 1990's  where the major advancements of 2wd tire options took place as well as wheels and hubs.  Dual wheels and fwa were a great step forward in 1986 but collectors were already asking where is fwa with duals?

TTT June 2003 Page 7

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